A priest was going to preach a retreat in a city in Florida. He decided to send a postcard to his mother back home. Walking out of his hotel, he saw a young boy on a bike and asked where the nearest post office was. The boy gave him directions. The priest thanked him and then invited the boy to church that evening. He told him “If you come to church this evening, I’ll tell you the way to get to heaven.” “No thanks,” the boy answered. “You don’t even know your way to the post office.”
In our Gospel this Sunday, a passage very often read at funerals, the apostles are confused when Jesus tells them “you know the way.” Jesus enlightens their dismay by telling them: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He alone is both the path by which we arrive and the manner in which we are to travel.
This Sunday, I am so blessed to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. It was on this very day, when Bishop Pierre DuMaine, through the laying on of hands, and the calling forth of the Holy Spirit, bestowed upon me the dignity of the priesthood. I know of some priests who have served in five different parishes in the first five years of their priesthood! The Lord has gifted me with stability. I have served in only three different parishes since 1991: St. Mary in Gilroy; Holy Family in San Jose; and St. Thomas Aquinas in Palo Alto.
My simple prayer every day is for God to give me the grace to be a holy, happy, and healthy priest. For 23 years, the Lord has shown me “the way” to serve the People of God in the best way I know how. I am most grateful today for the many good and loving people whose lives I have touched and who, in turn, have touched mine. People I would have never met, if I had not become a priest.